A Misplaced Memory
by ProfessorPumpkin
Summary: There is a girl named Ophelia Duvet. Ever since she can remember, she's had memories of things that have never happened to her. Maybe she will find the answer during her first year at Hogwarts, where there's the legendary Potter children in their final year, mysterious allies, and a stranger looking for her. Or perhaps looking for that answer will lead to her utter demise.
1. A Memory that Shouldn't Be

_Full Summary: Ophelia Duvet is a shy little girl going into her first year of the famed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But that's not what she's thinking about most. Ever since she can remember, she's had memories that never happened to her deep within her head. Perhaps her time at Hogwarts will allow her to discover the answer behind these misplaced memories, but she finds bigger things going on. A mysterious girl named Farfelee in her year, the famed Albus Potter and Rose Weasley children leaving the school in their final year, and rumor of a strange man very interested about her in the nearby village of Hogsmeade, Ophelia may find that pursuing this mystery might lead to her utter demise._

* * *

**Hello everyone! Welcome to what will be part one of an ongoing project of mine. Just a disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the world of Harry Potter, any elements of that world or any of its characters.**

* * *

"_I CAN'T LET YOU DO THIS!" One of them cries._

_ "OUT OF MY WAY! I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU!" yells a second._

_ "NO!" screams the third one._

_But it was too late… It had already happened._

Ophelia awoke, her heart pounding. She shot upright from her bed, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her parents came rushing in, and the father hugged his screaming child, the eleven year old girl tightening her grasp on his shirt, tears plunging from her face. Her mother began to rub her back, as the father was taking the job of hugging, the mother could mostly just comfort by assuring her daughter of her presence and concern.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to her parents when it was all over. Ophelia always felt guilty during her panic attacks. She was adopted, so she always felt as though her parents didn't need to do any of this. But nevertheless, they comforted her, even when her attacks got frightfully worse.

It was early in the morning, and her parents had prepared a wealthy breakfast for her, as Ophelia could not go to sleep, not after having another experience like that. Today she would start her first semester at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her mother was already a witch, so it was just a happy coincidence when it turned out their adopted child had the magical gene in her as well.

"What if I have a panic attack in school?" she asked worriedly. "No one will comfort me!"

"Ophelia," said her mother. "If you ever do, that's why I'm giving you this." Her mother got out a small gift, and cautiously, Ophelia untied the ribbon keeping the lid on and opened the box. It was a looking glass that you could hold with one hand. Ophelia stared at the mirror, noticing that it did not return a reflection (if it did, she would see her short blonde hair, her pale skin, and her oddly grey eyes, which her parents told her was a very pale blue). Rather, it showed a view of the living room, fireplace and all.

"It's a two-way mirror," she said. "It's connected to one I've got down here. All you have to do is look into it, and you can see us, and we can see you. You can even talk to us through it."

Ophelia put it back in the box and put it with her luggage. After breakfast, she had one last sip of tea and readied herself to go.

At King's Cross station, Ophelia hugged her father goodbye, and her mother showed her how to gain access to Platform 9 ¾.

After getting onto the famed platform, Ophelia said goodbye to her mother, and went onto the train crowded with children.

Looking through the place, Ophelia found that there were no empty cars. So, she took to the first one she found that had an open seat.

"Um, sorry, but, is it alright if I sit down?" she asked the two people who took up the seats.

"Of course," one of them said. Ophelia quickly took her seat on the edge of the compartment, distancing herself from them, hoping to not be a bother. It seemed the boy and the girl did not mind, as they almost instantly introduced themselves in a friendly manor.

"I'm Sapphire Cornerstone," said the girl. "And this is my brother, Destrian."

"Pleasure," said the boy, Destrian.

Ophelia gave a little wave hello, and introduced herself. "My name's Ophelia Duvet," when the train began to move. All the children got to the windows, waving goodbye to their parents, the parents waving goodbye in return. Ophelia looked at her mother, as saw her fade into the distance before resuming her sitting.

"Is this your first year?" Sapphire asked Ophelia.

"Yes," she responded, almost in a whisper.

"It's our first year too," said Destrian. "What house are you hoping for?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. My mother was a Gryffindor, so perhaps that?"

"Our family's come from a long line of Hufflepuffs," said Sapphire.

"Well, except for Cousin Yorick. He was a Slytherin before he died," continued Destrian. "They say he was a bad person, but he doesn't sound too bad from the stories I've heard."

Sapphire disagreed. "He sounded dreadful to me."

"I just don't see what's so bad about Slytherin," said Destrian.

"It's not that he was Slytherin," argued Sapphire. "It's that he was a death eater."

"But he never killed anyone. He was just on Voldemort's side. Mum told me that he never even used an unforgivable curse. I bet he was just there because he had no choice."

The two continued their conversation, which Ophelia rather enjoyed listening to. She never had any siblings, adopted or familial through blood, but it seemed nice, always having someone to talk to, even if it was in the form of an argument. In this case, it very much seemed to be in the form of an argument.

Their conversation was silenced when a young girl their age entered. With red hair and no freckles, and dazzling blue eyes, she was a sight indeed. Even for her age she was rather pretty.

"Everywhere else is full," she said, before quickly plopping herself down in the seat across from Ophelia.

"Alright then," said Destrian before introducing themselves.

"Farfelee Blackwood," she responded with. Before they knew it, the siblings were continuing their conversation.

* * *

Hours passed, and Ophelia had eventually found herself comfortable enough to join in. She felt quite proud when she managed to get the two to laugh, but she noticed that Farfelee was merely looking at nothing, and seemed to be lost in thought. She didn't seem dismissive to the rest of them, she almost seemed to be ignoring them, in favor of thinking with a serious expression on her face.

After some time, they found themselves stopping in the dead of night.

Everyone got their luggage and exited the train, with all the older students heading towards some carriages on the road, while all the first years were heading towards a very tall man with a dark beard.

"All first years, this way!" he said. As they were all coming towards him, suddenly the extremely tall man was rushed at by two people, embracing him in a giant hug.

"Hello Hagrid!" one of them said joyously, an older girl with red hair and freckles.

"Well," said the man who Ophelia learned was named Hagrid, "if it isn't Rose and Albus! You two are head boy and head girl, shouldn't you be off leading the Gryffindors?"

"It's our last year," said Rose. "We've been here long enough to know that head boy and girl authority doesn't mean much."

Hagrid laughed. "Alright, I've got first years to attend to. You both be off, and tell yer siblings I say hi."

"We will," said the older brunette boy named Albus. The two ran off towards the carriages, before Hagrid turned back to the children.

"Everyone, get on a rowboat! You'll be sailing towards Hogwarts!"

The self-rowing boats (one of which Ophelia shared with the Cornerstones and Farfelee) made it to the shore, and everyone went upstairs, into the enormous castle that was Hogwarts.

"Hello," said a man who greeted them within. The man had large ears, and wore a robe that was surprisingly dirty, and he had a scar over one of his eyes, making him squint with that one. "My name is Professor Longbottom. I am the deputy headmaster here at Hogwarts," he explained to the children. "Beyond these doors are your fellow students. Dinner will be served soon, but before that, we're to have the sorting ceremony. We shall sort you into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Throughout the year, you shall earn housepoints. Good deeds will gain them, and bad deeds will lose them. Whichever house has accumulated the most housepoints by the end of the year, wins the house cup. Now, let's begin."With that, he opened the doors in front of them, and lead them into the great hall.

There were hundreds of students looking at the first years walk through, and when Ophelia looked to the ceiling, she was astonished by the stars that shone on the top of the castle, and the floating candles that were as bright as the galaxies against the illusion of the night sky. Ophelia knew from her mother's stories that it wasn't truly the sky, but it was just as beautiful to look at.

In the front of the hall, beyond the four long tables, and in front of the fifth table for the professors, sat a stool. On the stool was a typical wizard hat, that began to speak through a rip in its fabric.

Not only that, but it began to sing of the four houses, how Gryffindor was brave, how Hufflepuff was kind, how Ravenclaw was smart, and how Slytherin was pure.

After this, Professor Longbottom stood with a large scroll in his hands, and began to read the names people who would go through the sorting ceremony.

Of course, there were many of each house, but Ophelia did not pay them much attention, until she heard the name 'Farfelee Blackwood' called.

The quiet but stern looking girl got up onto the stool, and had the hat placed on her head by Professor Longbottom, before it joyously called out "Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindors cheered (And Professor Longbottom himself was happy, as he had been a Gryffindor long ago during his time as a Hogwarts student), and two or three people went next before the name Destrian Cornerstone was called.

As he sat down, the hat was put on him, and it called out "Slytherin!"

With cheers from the Slytherin table, Sapphire was called up, and after it was placed atop her head, the hat sang out "Ravenclaw!"

When Ophelia's name was called, she felt her heart sink, as she nervously went up to the stool, feeling the hat be placed on her head.

'_Hmm,_' it said in her mind, which almost made her squeal, '_tricky tricky. You have your family's blood, and it says Gryffindor, but you don't know what to choose. It's settled then.'_ "Ravenclaw!" it burst out, and the Ravenclaw table cheered, as Sapphire welcomed Ophelia by allowing a seat next to her.

As the sorting hat began on a boy named Bishop Elvor (who was hesitantly sorted into Hufflepuff house), Ophelia thought over the sorting hat's ominous words. _'He said my blood. He didn't mean my mother. He meant my real parents…'_

Ophelia had this thought constantly with her through the night, before going to bed in the Ravenclaw dormitory. When she felt a yawn come through her, she knew she would have to ponder over the thought more in the morning.


	2. First Day of Classes

"_It's alright. One day, all this will be like a bad dream," he says._

The Ravenclaw house was anything one could ever ask for. First of all, the walls were lined with bookshelves, with texts dabbling in fiction to historical to spells to potions. The ceiling was painted with the constellations. Nowhere near as grand as the great hall, but still a useful reference. And the view from this tower was beautiful as well.

As for Ophelia, she was just pleased that she did not wake up screaming like she'd done for so much of her life.

"Come on," said Sapphire, who was quickly becoming one of Ophelia's closest friends. "Let's get some breakfast."

The great hall in the morning had a blue sky and a shining sun, and the tables were lined with sausages and toast and goblets of orange juice and tea, and every other breakfast food and drink you can imagine. Ophelia and Sapphire took a seat, with Sapphire making a quick glance to the Slytherin table. When Ophelia noticed this, she saw that Sapphire was looking directly at her brother.

"Are you upset you two aren't in the same house?" she asked Sapphire.

"Not at all," she assured her. "I'm glad he's where he belongs." Ophelia noticed a twinge of something that wasn't happiness in her new friend's voice.

Their schedule dictated that they had Defense Against the Dark Arts as their first class, so Ophelia and Sapphire headed there right after they had finished eating. The instructor was named Professor Lordshire, a young Asian man with jet black hair and an irresistible half-smile.

"Hello, class," he said. "Let's just see what you know. Who here can tell me the name of the first darkest wizard of all time?"

Almost immediately, everyone raised their hand. He called on a Ravenclaw boy (by the name of Adam Douglas) who answered with a resounding "Lord Voldemort."

"Correct," said the Professor. "Who here can tell me the second darkest wizard of all time?"

Only about a third of the class raised their hand this time. A Hufflepuff girl (named Charlotte Zorrock) answered "Gellert Grindelwald."

"Correct," said the professor. "Three points to Ravenclaw, five to Hufflepuff." He then began to write on the chalk board something about dark wizards.

"Most people would train you against dangerous magical creatures, but I wish to teach you how to defend yourselves against dark wizards themselves. In the end, you can slay all the dragons you want (I don't recommend it though. They're marvelous creatures), but it's humans that you must beware of. Throughout your time in my class you will learn how to defend yourselves against the most evil people that magic has ever crafted. By the end of the month, you'd all best know how to cast a simple disarming spell."

After the class was over, Ophelia wasn't sure how she felt about Professor Lordshire. He almost intimidated her, even with that half-grin he had. But she decided to shift focus from that and onto her next class, potions.

A very old man stood in front of them all. He was quite fat, and wore a fancy suit that appeared to be from long ago. This was Professor Slughorn.

They were made to work in pairs, so of course Ophelia went with Sapphire (who was beginning to refer to her as just Lia, to which Ophelia didn't really mind). But something she noticed was in the corner of the room, where two Gryffindors had teamed up, one of them being Farfelee.

Apparently, Professor Slughorn wished for them to actually conjure a potion on their first day (the winner getting twenty points to their house). Ophelia and Sapphire could barely hold onto their jumping beans, while Ophelia gave constant looks to the corner, where Farfelee was having no trouble with her partner (a male Gryffindor named Cory Trotter). In the end, Ophelia and Sapphire had only gotten halfway through their potion, while Farfelee and Cory had won the twenty points.

Slughorn dismissed them, and Ophelia came to the conclusion that while she enjoyed Professor Slughorn, she dreaded the actual potions class.

It was time for lunch, and the two Ravenclaws were joined by Destrian, who was telling them about his time in Slytherin.

"I just don't see why they're called evil," he said to them. "My friend Aarav is one of the nicest people I've ever met!"

"If it's so great," said Sapphire rather snappily, "why aren't you sitting with them?"

Destrian seemed worried. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," said Sapphire. "Come on, charms is in a few minutes."

She got up and bid Ophelia to come along (who gave a polite goodbye to Destrian). Halfway through the great hall, Ophelia noticed Farfelee sitting alone. "You go on ahead," she told Sapphire. "I want to say hi to someone."

Sapphire did just that while Ophelia went to Farfelee.

"Hey," she said to Farfelee in a surprisingly comfortable manor, as she was usually nervous while talking to people she didn't know too well.

Farfelee glanced at Ophelia. "Hey," she said, continuing to eat a sandwich she was just focusing on.

"So, you're pretty good at potions, huh," said Ophelia, hoping to strike up a conversation.

"I guess so. My family owns the potion shop in Diagon Alley, so I've got to be good at it."

"Oh," said Ophelia. "I'm pretty bad at it, but I suppose I've not much experience."

"Sucking at something's the first step at being good at something," responded Farfelee in a bland tone.

"Isn't that from a cartoon?" asked Ophelia.

"How should I know. Someone just told it to me one day."

"Sorry," said Ophelia. "I keep forgetting wizards don't use muggle technology that often, so not much television."

"I've got to go," said Farfelee after finishing her food. She bid goodbye to Ophelia, right before our protagonist remembered that she would be late for class.

The man in charge of Charms class was a very young and rather handsome young man by the name of Professor Swordfeather.

"Now," he said to the students, "you're probably all wondering what you can learn from Charms class." As a demonstration, as soon as he finished that sentence, he waved his wand, and everyone's books suddenly came to life, dancing on their desks. Not only that, but their quills took to the air, battling each other in mid flight as if they were weapons.

Everyone was amazed by this, but Professor Swordfeather quickly calmed down the objects and began their lesson. Their first day would be a simple charm, a floating one. _Wingardium Leviosa_.

* * *

Sapphire and Ophelia sat on the grass of the school grounds right next to the lake. Destrian quickly ran up to them when he saw them, and as they had just sat down, Sapphire had no excuse to escape her brother this time.

"What's wrong?" he asked her. She pursed her lips and turned away, so he began to talk to Ophelia instead (who he had also begun to call Lia, which again, she didn't really mind).

"How was potions?" he asked. "I've got it tomorrow, and I'm not sure what to expect."

"I'm dreadful at it. But there was this one girl, she handled the potions instruments with such grace. She was excellent at it!"

"What about Professor Slughorn?"

"Oh. He seems nice."

"He's head of Slytherin house," continued Destrian. "He actually fought in the Battle of Hogwarts."

"Did he know Professor Dumbledore?"

"I suppose. How come?"

Ophelia blanked out. "No reason."

The three rather enjoyed their time in the open field, talking while watching the giant squid weave across the lake. Ophelia even saw a mermaid sitting on a rock in the distance, but as soon as it noticed her gaze, it quickly jumped back into the water.

They were all getting ready to leave, when Ophelia spotted the head boy and head girl from yesterday heading closer to them. Just as Ophelia was afraid that they were coming directly to them, they turned and started to head for a hut not too far away.

"Who're they?" asked Ophelia.

"You don't know?" asked Destrian dumbfounded. "That one is Harry Potter's kid. And the girl is the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley!"

Ophelia had heard of these names growing up, but she never had much interaction with the wizarding world, so they were almost more like fairy tales rather than historical figures. But right in front of her were the offsprings of these stories in flesh and blood. It was an odd experience, but one she passed off as a fleeting sense of realism.

The three went back to the castle, and Ophelia and Sapphire, along with Destrian and his friend Aarav Sarin, went to their final class of the day; Transfiguration.

In charge of the class was a woman. She wasn't too old, but she must have been at least forty. Yet she was surprisingly fit for her age, and came off as much younger than she was.

"My name is Professor Lumos," she said as her wand began to glow. "You have no idea how annoying it is sharing your last name with a spell."

Professor Lumos, as she demonstrated, was what you call and animagus, which is a wizard that has the ability to change from human into an animal.

She told them how it took three years to become an animagus, and even then you would have no idea what you were to change into. Her transformation was into a great dane, which, like Charms class earlier, amazed the students.

* * *

It was after class, and everyone was heading for dinner.

Right before they reached the great hall, however, Ophelia felt queasy. "I'm gonna use the bathroom," she told Sapphire, before jolting off into whichever direction she guessed the bathroom would be.

Upon arriving, she felt as though she were about to barf, but nothing came out of her. It was then that her head began to throb, and she began to hear voices.

"_GET OUT OF HERE!" said the one who was always there._

_ "JUST STOP!" said another._

Ophelia couldn't take much more of this. She needed to do something, but she couldn't think straight.

"_I SAID GET OUT!" said one before drawing a wand._

Ophelia was starting to cry, when someone knocked on the cell she was using.

"Are you alright?" asked a familiar voice.

Ophelia slowly opened the door, and standing there was Farfelee. Ophelia felt embarrassed, and wanted to cry even more for showing this side of her to anyone. She was afraid that she'd be labeled as a freak, but Farfelee just stood there.

"Are you having a panic attack?" she asked Ophelia.

Ophelia gulped. "I guess so."

Farfelee took something out of her pocket and held it out. It was then Ophelia noticed it was a cookie.

"I stashed it in my pocket and forgot from lunch," she said. "It seems to be magic, since it hasn't crumbled at all."

Ophelia didn't turn it down, and took the thing into her own hand before taking a bite of it. It was surprisingly good, and she quickly finished the whole thing.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're name's Lia, right?"

"Well, Ophelia, but Lia seems to be sticking now."

Farfelee giggled. "Could do worse. People are calling me just Fey. My name doesn't even have that sound in it."

"I guess it's like Far-fey-lee."

"That's not how you pronounce it at all."

"Well, it's how you pronounce it a little."

Farfelee laughed at this. "Come on, let's get some dinner."

Ophelia joined Sapphire, who seemed to be getting along much better with her brother, as the two were sitting and were back to their was of talking from yesterday on the train. Fafelee joined them as well, and the four had a surprisingly pleasant time, far better than most of the day.

When it was time for them to part ways and head to their dorms, Farfelee waved an earnest goodbye at Ophelia, and Sapphire and Destrian gave a quick hug.

Upon arriving at the Ravenclaw dorm, the statue that guarded the place asked them a question, to which the correct answer would gain you passage inside.

"What is stronger?" the thing asked. "An elf's magic or a troll's strength?"

"Well," said Ophelia, "I suppose it all depends on the elf and the troll."

"That one was easy," it stated, before moving out of the way and allowing the wall to open up, granting entrance to their new home.


	3. Albus Potter

**Chapter 3: Albus Potter**

* * *

"I'm just saying," continued Destrian as they all walked through the halls together, "why is it an eagle? I mean, your house is called _Raven_-claw!"

"That was Rowanna Ravenclaw's last name," answered Farfelee.

"The founders didn't make their house mascots after their last names, after all," responded Sapphire.

"Yes they did! What do snakes do? They slither…in. Gryffindor, a griffon is part eagle AND part lion."

"What about Hufflepuff?" asked Ophelia.

The four stopped as they were walking up the grand staircase. "What is a huffle?" questioned Destrian.

As the first few weeks of school came to an end, along with September, Ophelia and Destrian discovered they shared a common flaw, their inability to properly make potions.

Ophelia had asked Farfelee if she could help her study, but Farfelee didn't seem to be a fan of the idea of teaching something. "Sorry," she said when Ophelia had posed the question. Ophelia didn't want to push it, as her friendship with her was very recent.

"You could study with me and Aarav," suggested Destrian one day. "He's very good at alchemy."

So it was that one day at lunch, Ophelia and Destrian would force themselves through their hunger and head to the library with Destrian's usual companion.

The librarian, Madame Pince, was a strict old woman who seemed to be a statue at her desk, that is until someone so much as sneezed near a book, to which she would engage a sort of battle mode and instantly threaten to take away ten house points.

"I just don't see the difference between pixie and fairy wings," said Destrian to their apparent tutor as they sat at a table amongst the bookshelves.

"Well," said Aarav Barad, "if you put a pixie wing inside of a healing potion, it becomes poison."

"Right…"

"Ophelia," said Aarav trying to get Ophelia's attention. "You know the other main ingredient in a healing potion, right?"

"Um…" she stuttered, flipping through her potion's book. "Is it whomping willow roots?"

"Close."

"Really?"

"No."

Aarav probably would've taught Ophelia a whole lot if she had been paying attention. For now, he would have to deal with her surprisingly short attention span, and after a while they went to DADA (Defense Against the Dark Arts), where Professor Lordshire wished for them to have a practical lesson, which would involve them actually defending themselves with a protection spell while he flung offensive ones at them. It wasn't something that the students were really hoping for, as not many had mastered it yet.

But alas, he called them up alphabetically. Sapphire was dreadful at it, losing her wand every time he launched a spell at her. When Ophelia finally had her turn, it took her two tries to get it right, but she was getting the hang of it at a surprisingly good rate.

It was when a Hufflepuff boy, Bishop Elvor went up that things began to go wrong. Not for him, at least.

The Professor ushered "_Expelliarmus_" while pointing his wand towards him, with the Hufflepuff quickly yelling back "_Protego_," the spell hitting his projected shield, but somehow, the spell bounced right off, and not back at the professor. Rather, the enchantment found itself ricocheting around the room at a nonstop pace, until it eventually landed upon Ophelia's head.

* * *

"_Stop it! Get out of here at once!"_

Ophelia awoke in the hospital wing, finding a slight headache, but overall nothing too bad.

She looked to her left, and found a familiar looking young man next to her with his leg in a splint.

"Excuse me," she began, "but how long have I been out?"

"I think they brought you in about an hour ago?"

"I've been out that long?!" she questioned.

The boy laughed. "Don't worry, the next class doesn't start for about ten minutes. What's your name?"

"Oh, um, Ophelia Duvet. And yours?"

The young man almost seemed shocked at her returning this question. "Albus Potter," he said in a tone that was almost another question.

"Oh, I've heard of you. You were named after Albus Dumbledore, right?"

"Well, and I'm the son of Harry Potter and Ginny Potter."

"Right. So, um, how…" she gestured towards his busted up leg.

He looked at it in surprise, as if he had forgotten the thing was even there. "Oh, that's from Quidditch practice. The beaters accidentally hit the bludger towards me. Assholes."

"Which one is the bludger again?" she asked.

"I'm guessing you're muggleborn?"

"Half-blood, I just grew up in the muggle world."

"Oh. Well, the bludger is the one that flies around on its own and tries to knock players off of their brooms. It's the beaters' job to keep them away from us and knock them towards the enemy team."

"That sounds… awful."

"Ha. It's exhilarating. Anyways, Madam Pomfrey said to tell you that you can go once you wake up, so you'd best be off."

Ophelia quickly jolted upwards and looked to the side of her cot, where her book bag lay. She picked it up and headed for the door, before quickly turning around. "It was nice to meet you," she informed Albus politely, before running off.

"Oh, you too!" He called out half-heartedly when she got through the doors.

* * *

"Hogsmede?" she asked.

"Destrian wants us to sneak in. He says that there's some way to go with the third years."

Sapphire had proposed this plan to Ophelia only moments ago, and already Ophelia was intrigued. There was something about the shops there that sounded nice.

"But how're we supposed to sneak in?" she asked.

"Like I said," Sapphire assured her, "Destrian will find a way."

At this hour it was mostly fifth, sixth and seventh years up cramming in their studies. The majority of students in their grade had already gone to bed, but the two could not sleep in anticipation for what could possibly happen.

The next morning was Saturday, and the two had barely gotten any slumber. During breakfast, Ophelia looked to the Gryffindor table, where Farfalee was chatting with some Gryffindor's in their year. It made Ophelia a little joyed to see she was making more friends.

While Sapphire was gulping down some orange juice, she overheard a conversation of two more Gryffindors walking behind her, recognizing the voice of Albus.

"Dad is going to kill me," he said.

"It's not your fault," said a female voice from beside him. "I mean, the thing is invisible. That sounds like something you could easily lose."

The two kept walking when Destrian finally approached them and sat down with Aarav.

"Okay," he said when they all gathered around. "Ready for this?"

He instructed them all to follow him into the courtyard, where they found a small spot in the shade of the tree. Destrian took out his bag, and looked around to ensure there were no onlookers, and there weren't, as everyone was still eating breakfast.

"Here it is," he stated. He then brought out a small brown blanket.

"What is it?" asked Ophelia.

"Oh my god," said an astonished Sapphire. "That's an invisibility cloak!"

"Yup!" he said while laughing. "I nicked it off some Gryffindor. I think it was Albus Potter."

"Destrian!" Sapphire spurted out. "You can't steal!"

"He doesn't need it for today. After this I just put it back where I found it. Now, are you coming?"

Sapphire sighed. "Alright. When the third years leave, we go with them."

* * *

"Permission slips, everyone!" shouted Professor Longbottom at the mob of third years. All of them were bustling about and filled to the brim with excitement at the idea of Hogsmeade. Not too far from there, four students hid underneath their stolen invisibility cloak, knowing that soon they would follow the others into a town they would not be permitted to enter for another two years.

They were not sure how the four of them fit perfectly underneath the cloak, just that it was working.

"What was that?" asked Sapphire.

"I didn't say anything," said Ophelia.

"Me neither," responded Destrian. "Aarav?"

"Nope."

"Alright, someone is whispering in my ear, I know it," said Sapphire, getting very much annoyed by now.

"No one is whispering in your ear," said Destrian. "Now look, the third years are leaving!"

As the many students began their pace behind the deputy headmaster, the four began an awkward shuffle under the cloak to follow them.

Right before they left the courtyard outside of the castle, Sapphire snapped.

"Okay, someone had better tell me who's doing that right now!"

"It was just little old me," said an unfamiliar and high-pitched voice.

Ophelia found herself tripping, falling from under the cloak as the others continued their journey. It was a surprisingly quit fall, as the third years did not notice it.

"Just keep going!" said Ophelia in a somewhat loud whisper.

"We can't, Lia," said what Ophelia assumed was Sapphire.

"Yes you can!" said the other voice once again. Then the high-pitch voice shouted. "TEENCY LITTLE FIRST YEARS TRYING TO SNEAK TO HOGSMEADE!"

This made some of the students turn around, only to see Ophelia getting up. Ophelia didn't have much of a choice but to run for it, and headed back to the castle.

"What the hell was that?" she asked herself while catching her breath inside.

"Just me," said the voice once more, as a pale transparent figure appeared in front of her, floating in mid air.

"Who're you?" she questioned.

"Peeves. Did no one tell you about me?"

"No…"

"Peeves! Get out of here!" said another voice, this time Ophelia was approached by Farfalee.

"Another little first year? What are you going to do?" he asked the redheaded girl.

"_Spiritus Relinquo_," she shouted while pulling out her wand. With that, the ghost started to turn an even duller shade of white, and began to gag. He then floated away through the wall as fast as he could.

"You've met him?" asked Ophelia, still catching her breath.

"He harassed the first year Gryffindor's on our first night here."

Not knowing what to do for the rest of the day, the two spent most of their time together. When the clock struck noon, they decided to head out to the quidditch field, which was empty as there was no practice today.

"So what's the point of getting points if the snitch is worth 150?" asked Ophelia.

"Well, it's all about timing. There have been plenty of world cups where the losing team has caught the snitch. The last time it happened was back when Viktor Crum was still alive. He was the one who caught it."

The conversation continued for a while, but after about twenty minutes of talking (mostly Farfalee explaining the rules of quidditch) Ophelia began to feel a sharp headache coming along.

"Of course, after that it was illegal to (_It'll all be like a bad dream one day_). But the Appleby Arrow's still (_What on Earth is he talking about?_). Ophelia, are you (_They're all going to die!_)?"

"Sorry," apologized Ophelia. "Massive headache. Can um… (_She'll die from it one day._) I'm just gonna… (_I swear if you don't leave now I'll kill you!_) lie down for a bit… (_PLEASE!_)."

Ophelia laid her head down on the grass and let the need for an afternoon nap take over.

_"It's all his fault!"_

_"He doesn't deserve to live!"_

_"None of them deserve to live!"_

_…_

_"Don't worry. One day, this will all be like a bad dream..._

_"...Arianna."_


	4. Naps and Maps

An hour passed before Farfalee felt like she should wake her up.

"ARIANNA!" shouted Ophelia with a jolt.

"Oh my god," said a startled Farfalee. "Who's Arianna?"

"Oh. Um, she's… I don't know."

"What're you two doing out here?" asked a distant female voice.

The two looked to the source of it, where Sapphire was approaching them with Destrian at her side.

"Why're you back so early?" asked Ophelia quite drowsily. "It's not even 2. Right?"

"Yeah," said Destrian when they got closer. "It's 1:30."

"We realized after we got there that if we couldn't come out from under the cloak, there was nothing to do. And if we did come out, we'd be caught."

"So what've you two been doing?"

Ophelia stretched her limbs and explained how it was just naps and quidditch for the two of them.

"Sounds better than our day," stated Destrian.

"Do you guys happen to know someone named Arianna by the way?" Ophelia asked the two of them.

"…No," said they both said at the same time.

"Freaky dream, I'm guessing?" asked Farfalee.

Ophelia didn't wish to respond. She realized this was the first time she had screamed upon awakening since her arrival at Hogwarts, but thankfully, Farfalee didn't seem to see it as screaming, rather a loud wake up.

* * *

The halls echoed every footstep this late, as everyone should've been in bed by now, but Ophelia and Destrian had stayed up in a cram session with Aarav. When they were kicked out of the library at closing time, they merely sat in the courtyard.

"How late do you think it is?" asked Ophelia.

"Late enough to lose housepoints if we're caught this late," answered Destrian. The three decided to end their studies for now, with them walking in opposite directions to get to their respective common rooms.

The darkness seemed to swallow everything in the hallway, but Ophelia couldn't afford to light her wand, lest a prefect or teacher might catch her.

As it turns out, that did not matter at all, as the footsteps in front of her meant someone was already there.

"I'm so sorry!" said Ophelia in a loud whisper to the sound approaching her. "I didn't realize how late it was. I was just on my way back to Ravenclaw house-"

"Don't worry," said a familiar voice. "I was actually hoping to talk to you."

When the voice continued with a "_lumos_," she saw that it was none other than Albus Potter, standing there with a wand and a strange piece of parchment.

"What's that?" asked Ophelia.

"A map," he responded with. "Listen, I needed to discuss something with you, and when I saw you were still up it was a perfect opportunity."

"How did you know I was up?" she asked.

He held up the parchment, and held the tip of his wand on the paper. "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._"

Low and behold, a sort of blueprint of the entire castle appeared on the thing, with small little words at random points, with clusters of them in the house dormitories.

"It tells me where everyone in the school is," he said.

"That's intrusive."

"I don't often use it. Just on patrols," he said. "Whoever made it would probably kill me if they knew I was using it for prefect duties…"

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

"I met a man in Hogsmede today, someone staying at the Hog's Head, and he said that he was looking for you."

"…What?"

"Listen, I need you to promise me something. If you leave the school grounds, please tell me or my sister Lily first."

"Um, sure."

"Good. Now, get to Ravenclaw house. I'll give you a minute before I take away ten house points."

Ophelia did a jog away, outstandingly worried. Not just of the fact that a man in the village was looking for her, but at the fact that a prefect could see everyone wherever they were in the castle. That was a bit creepy to know…

"Wherever anybody is?"

"Anyone at anytime anywhere. It's disturbing, at best."

Sapphire couldn't believe what she was hearing as the two sat that afternoon in the Ravenclaw common room. The fact that such a magical object existed, it just couldn't be. Whoever would make something like that?

* * *

"But you know," Sapphire started, "we could use it."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a creepy guy in the village, right. What if it's not just Hogwarts that it shows on the map? What if it shows Hogsmeade as well."

Ophelia thought about what she was saying. "So if we get the map, we could learn who the creepy guy is."

"Then we just look up the name and we can figure out why he wants you."

The plan seemed like a good one. The only problem was of course, the fact that it involved stealing something like this from a prefect, a prefect who was the offspring of one of the world's most powerful wizards.

Fortunately, they knew someone who had already done so.

During Astronomy that night (which they had with Slytherin house), Sapphire went over the plan with Destrian, who seemed thrilled at the idea.

"Remember," Sapphire informed him, "we're only going to use it to find out who this creeper is, nothing else."

"Mhm," mumbled Destrian in his attempt to hold back a large grin.

And so, the next morning, Ophelia and Sapphire stood at the entrance to the third floor corridor, where Ophelia went on about her favorite book series before Destrian approached them, with the map in his hand.

"How'd you do that so fast?" asked Ophelia.

"I have ways," he said.

Sapphire took the thing in her own hand, staring at it in confusion. "It's blank. How do we get it to work?"

"Hold on," said Ophelia, grabbing it and tapping it with the tip of her wand. "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_."

With that, the map began to unveil itself, showcasing the entirety of Hogwarts.

"Look, there we are," pointed out Destrian to the small markings of their names.

Ophelia scanned the entire thing, until finally she saw an outline of the village. "Alright, it shows Hogsmeade. There're only two people in the Hog's Head, which is where the man should be staying."

The two names read Aberforth Dumbledore, and-

"That's just- that's simply not possible," stuttered out Sapphire.

But it showed clear as day, the name Gellert Grindewald.


	5. Books, Plenty of Books

"Gellert Grindewald," said Ophelia, still staring at the name as the three stood at the third floor corridor entrance, moments after they first spotted it. "He was the wizard Albus Dumbledore killed long ago, right?"

"It could just be someone with the same name," suggested Sapphire.

"Do you really think anyone would name their kid that after what he did?" asked Destrian. "People would even change their last names to not be his."

Ophelia agreed. "It'd be like a muggle naming their kid Adolf Hitler."

Sapphire and Destrian looked at her with confusion.

"The point is, what the hell is going on?" Ophelia continued.

That's when they heard the footsteps of hundreds of students exiting the great hall. Classes must've been starting around now, and the three chose to discuss this another time.

However, the next time they started to discuss it, they found that they could not think of many explanations. Plus, there was no chance of him getting into the castle without alerting the professor, and they weren't going down into Hogsmeade anytime soon, so Ophelia and the others decided to try and focus on their studies.

And in their studies, Ophelia felt like an absolute dolt in potions, even with extra study sessions with Destrian and Aarav. She simply couldn't grasp anything in that class except for a quill she used to write meaningless notes.

The only thing she could do now was to wait and see what her grades brought her.

Meanwhile, she was excelling exceptionally in Charms class, mostly thanks to the help of Professor Swordfeather. Whenever he spotted a student having difficulty, he would go out of his way to ensure they were caught up with the class. And in DADA, Ophelia was beginning to brighten her outlook on Professor Lordshire. He was still nowhere near as kind as Swordfeather, but he was an excellent teacher, with Ophelia doing most well in there.

The months progressed quicker than Ophelia thought they would, and before she knew it, Christmas break was here.

It was the day before everyone left for home. Ophelia was running from the dungeon to Ravenclaw house, as Professor Slughorn had wanted to keep her an extra minute.

"I hope you do better on your final exam than you do on regular tests, because I'm sorry to say, but your grades are abysmal," he had told her.

On her way upstairs, in the midst of her sprint, she had to run past the great hall, where she suddenly stopped. Only about a dozen students were in the hall right now, as it wasn't a meal and everyone was either in class or in their common rooms. It was here that she spotted Farfalee sitting all alone at the Gryffindor table, not too far from two girls playing wizard chess.

Ophelia decided to approach her friend, if only just to say hi.

"Hey, Farfalee," she said cheerfully whilst approaching her.

Farfalee looked up. "Ophelia. What're you doing here?"

"I saw you and I decided to say hi. I believe that's what you do when you see your friend sitting by themselves."

Farfalee smiled at this. "Thanks."

"Have you already packed for the break?" asked Ophelia.

Farfalee shrugged. "I'm staying here for Christmas."

"What? Why?"

"I just… I just am."

Ophelia sat down next to her. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's just, my home isn't exactly what I would call home."

"Doesn't your family live in the potions shop that they own?"

"Yeah. I just decided to stay here for Christmas. That's all."

Ophelia was a bit saddened. She didn't want to intrude upon Farfalee's home life, but she didn't want to leave her friend alone.

That's when a thought struck her. "Stay right here, I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Um, okay," said Farfalee while Ophelia began another sprint towards the Ravenclaw dorm.

About twenty minutes later (the grand staircase had always been hard to traverse) Ophelia was back, holding a looking glass with her.

"Here," she said, handing the object to Farfalee. "It's a two-way mirror. If you get lonely, just talk into that. I'll be on the other side."

Farfalee looked at it, then back to Ophelia, with a sincere smile and a tear beginning to form in her eye. "Thank you, Ophelia."

* * *

The ride on the Hogwarts express felt strange, going in the opposite direction from the actual Hogwarts. Ophelia was sharing a compartment with Sapphire and two Ravenclaw boys in their year. Destrian was riding with Aarav and some Slytherins he knew.

"My family's going on vacation to Hungaria. I have a cousin who studies dragons there," said the boy named Scott Rally.

"Awesome," responded the other boy, Adam Douglas. "I'm just staying at home with some visiting family."

Sapphire had joined in the conversation with the boys while Ophelia merely looked out the window. She found that she always thought better while moving, even if it was staying still in a moving vehicle.

When the train came to its screeching halt, everyone got their bags and went to their family members. Destrian met up with them before they got off the train, the three looking around for their parents in the cluster of people.

"Look," said Sapphire. "Our moms are over there."

Sapphire and Destrian hugged Ophelia. "See you when we get back," said Sapphire during her hug. Destrian embraced her while saying bye. With that, the two were on their way to the two women.

"Ophelia!" called out the maternal voice. She turned to see her own mother, and the two embraced each other immediately.

* * *

"Also, a lot of people have started to call me Lia. I don't mind actually. The only one who still calls me Ophelia is Farfalee. Everyone but me calls her Fey."

The conversation over dinner was cheering up her parents. They were afraid when she hadn't used the mirror a while that it was because she was too depressed. It turned out the reason was quite the opposite.

"We're so glad you made friends at school, Ophelia," said her father as he took a second slice of pizza. It was one thing that Ophelia severely missed at Hogwarts, pizza.

"Oh, for Christmas dinner we're having a guest over," Ophelia's mother informed her. "He's from the wizarding world actually."

Usually all there was at the Duvet family dinners was her father's sister and her two children, Beth and Joy. All of them were muggles, who of course had no idea of the magical side of their family. "What's his name?" Ophelia asked.

"Richard Eeting. I met him at volunteer work, actually." Ophelia's mother was a part of Potions for the Poor, a charity group focused on healing poor muggles with magical means. Usually this entailed simple healing potions for the sick and the occasional cheering charm on the severely depressed.

"I hope you don't mind my giving Farfalee the mirror."

"Of course not," her mother assured her. "You're a good friend, 'Lia,'" she said with a slight snicker.

* * *

"_Arianna doesn't need you! Get that through your thick head, Albus!_"

This time she did not awaken with a scream, rather a pant. Nowhere near as loud enough to awake her parents, but still loud enough to worry herself of a possibly oncoming panic attack. Thankfully, she was able to calm herself down, before she was struck with a sense of curiosity.

_Albus_, she thought. Albus Dumbledore? Albus Potter? What was going on, and why was she only getting these details of her dream now?

She went to her family's study. On the top shelf there was a book that she knew she needed right now. Unfortunately, she was only eleven, and too short to reach up there. She didn't want to risk using magic outside of school only to get punished by the Ministry. Perhaps if she used a very simple spell, one not strong enough to get noticed on the Ministry's radar...

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," she quickly whispered while aiming her wand at her the book. The thing quietly exited the shelf, floating down towards her.

She quickly left the study and put her wand on her nightstand when she got back to her bedroom. She knew that the Ministry might assume it was her mother, and they would hopefully think so and not send any punishment.

She looked at the book's cover, depicting a picture of the late wizard she had always been interested in. "_The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_, by Rita Skeeter."

She opened the book and sped through the pages, until she spotted the name she was looking for.

"_Arianna, the youngest child in the Dumbledore family._" Apparently, Arianna was beaten by some muggle boys when she was a little girl, and had been bedridden since then, unable to attend Hogwarts due to that, and had her mental health slowly deteriorating as well. She was described as pretty, yet sickly, with pale skin and weak muscles.

Ophelia looked to her own pale skin and wondered. Arianna was described as having brown hair, while Ophelia herself had a blonde so light it was almost white in color. She wondered what the connection was until her eyes began to drop, as it was still the midst of night. Eventually, Ophelia did shut her eyes, falling asleep with the book opened on the edge of her bed.

* * *

Two mornings after, Ophelia opened up her Christmas presents. She stopped believing in Father Christmas two years ago, but her parents still insisted as putting the gifts underneath the tree. "There's just a nice essence to the whole thing," her mother would say.

When she came down, she noticed that some of the presents were marked with 'to' and 'froms.' She quickly looked to see they were actually from her friends at school.

"Oh god, I didn't get them anything," she said extremely worried. "We have to go to the shops tomorrow!"

After opening the presents from her parents (books she'd asked for and some pretty earrings) she opened the three gifts from her school friends.

The first was from Destrian. "_Dear Lia,_" it read on the note that came with it, _"I'm really bad with getting people gifts, so I hope this'll do. From: Destrian_."

Opening it, Ophelia found a book entitled _Potions for Dummies_, Ophelia laughing at that, but knowing the thing might actually prove useful.

Next was the gift from Sapphire. It was much more neatly wrapped than the one from Destrian, though with the same wrapping paper. "_Dear Lia, I realized right before sending this that you don't know wizard customs, so don't worry about getting us presents. I hope you have a good Christmas! Love, Sapphire._"

Inside of the present was something that nearly made Ophelia squeal in delight. A large tome with the picture of a dragon-human hybrid, the title reading "_Draconica, Book 3, The Wrath of the Witch_."

_She remembered my favorite book series_, she said happily in her head. Ophelia could go on for hours about the works of fiction she loved, so much so that she assumed Sapphire had always zoned out whenever she talked about it. And this was the latest volume.

The final present was from Farfalee. "_Hey Ophelia. I'm not usually good with words, so here you go. Sincerely, Farfalee."_

Inside the gift was a copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_, with an extra note attached. "_P.S. I'm really sorry if this gift sucks. You seemed interested when we talked about it._"

_I love it,_ she thought to herself. Just knowing she had friends who cared enough to send packages was enough, but them sending more books was even better.

Ophelia's cousins instantly hugged her upon entering, her Aunt Idris with them as well, giving Ophelia a kiss on the forehead.

"Idris, could you help me with the turkey?" asked Ophelia mother, as the three girls instantly went to Ophelia's room.

Before Hogwarts, Beth and Joy had been the closest things Ophelia had to actual friends. The two were just as much of book lovers as she was, the three going on for hours about their love for Aslan and Frodo.

"Some friends from school sent me some books," Ophelia said excitedly. Half of the excitement was from the books, the other half showing off that she had made friends.

"Who's Albus Dumbledore?" asked Joy, picking up the copy of Rita Skeeter's biography from the floor.

"Oh, that's nothing," Ophelia responded. "Um, I think he was some general from world war II," she quickly made up in an attempt to hide the wizard's life from her.

Joy shrugged and put the book down when the doorbell rang.

"Is someone else coming to dinner?" asked Beth.

"Oh, a friend of my mom's or something."

Joy seemed a little confused. "We didn't know your mom had friends."

"Joy!" said Beth quickly. Beth was a year older than her sister, and was respectively the more polite of the siblings.

"What do you mean?" asked Ophelia.

The two girls stood there in an awkward silence. "It's just that, we know about your mom's depression," said Beth. "We overheard mom talking about it on the phone with her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Richard, come on in," greeted Ophelia's mother downstairs, the noise carrying upwards.

"Come on, let's see who he is," said Ophelia.

The three went downstairs to be greeted by the sight of a surprisingly handsome man (for his age at least), who must've been at least fifty, with hair entirely grey but cheekbones that'd make you think he was an actor.

"Hello there," he said upon spotting the girls. "I'm Richard."

* * *

Dinner proceeded like every year. Ophelia's father and her Aunt Idris catching each other up on what's been going on, specifically about his cancer being in remission, and her mother trying to show an interest in her nieces lives by asking them all sorts of questions about their school and hobbies. Ophelia didn't usually talk during dinner.

This year however, there was the addition of her mother talking frequently to Richard as well. From what she had overheard, Richard was a man whose wife had died a while ago, and he did not have much other family, and he had a very demanding job in Diagon Alley, which made him barely able to have many friends outside of his place of work.

Overall, it wasn't an unpleasant experience. Her parents were excellent chefs, and the food that her Aunt had brought was marvelous as well.

After dinner, Richard stayed for a cuppa and talked with Ophelia's mother for a while, before he had to leave.

"Goodbye," he said to Ophelia while his mother walked him to his car (which was very much surprising, as wizards and muggle vehicles don't often mix well).

Her cousins stayed the night in Ophelia's room, while her aunt slept on the couch. In the midst of the night, after her cousins had fallen asleep, Ophelia took out the book on Dumbledore, opting for a flashlight instead of her wand, just in case one of her cousins had woken up.

As it turned out, Dumbledore had been practically best friends with Grindelwald, and the two, along with Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, were all present at the death of Arianna when she was only fourteen.

_How are they connected to me though_, she kept wondering over and over again in her head, a thought that stayed with her all the way through the break.


End file.
